Sad Ted Cruz: Media portrayed me as a ‘whacked-out theocrat’ so Trump could be crushed by Hillary

In an interview with Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz outlined his plans to describe his vision of America at the Republican national convention, while blaming the media for sinking his own presidential campaign by painting him as a “whacked-out theocrat.”

Even though he has so far failed to endorse presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, the Texas Republican still landed a key speakers spot at the convention, where it is likely he will begin setting the stage for a 2020 run.

Despite describing himself as a “happy warrior,” Cruz lamented that the primary process was unfairly disrupted by the media, which relished the idea of a Trump candidacy in the belief that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would beat him easily in the general election.

“[Trump would] lose state after state after state and the media would say that he can’t be beaten … and the media liked to paint me as some whacked-out theocrat,” Cruz explained. “Four weeks before we dropped out, we were winning the race.”

“In the 30 days before Indiana primary, Trump got $500 million in free media, 90 percent was positive,” he continued. “What the media said on every station is, ‘Trump is unbeatable, he can’t be beaten’ — while he’s losing.”

While Cruz indicated that he felt Fox News was unfairly behind Trump, he saved most of his ire for other media outlets, saying they are in the bag for Clinton and that her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, received the same type of discriminatory coverage he did.

“I think many of the mainstream media players are liberal Democrats. They intend to vote for Hillary. They believed Donald was the easiest candidate for Hillary to beat. And I think many of them wanted him to win the nomination. I don’t think it was innocent decision-making behind this,” Cruz told Politico.

“I think Hillary’s nomination and I think Donald Trump’s nomination, I think the media played decisive roles in both of them,” he continued. “We saw media as decision makers in primaries in a way we have never seen before.”

It remains to be seen if Cruz will endorse Trump — who refers to the Texas senator as “Lying Ted” — following the convention or whether he sits out the next few months and builds up support with disaffected Republicans for his next shot at the White House.

About the Author

Tom Boggioni is based in the quaint seaside community of Pacific Beach in less quaint San Diego. He writes about politics, media, culture, and other annoyances. Mostly he spends his days at the beach gazing at the horizon waiting for the end of the world, or the sun to go down. Whichever comes first.